


Labyrinth

by Crowned_Ladybug



Series: Everyone Deserves a Second Chance (Marvelsepticeye AU) [6]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: AU, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Pining, poor poor Marvin, tho it's not made that super obvious it's def mutual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 21:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12690687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crowned_Ladybug/pseuds/Crowned_Ladybug
Summary: Falling in love with your best friend when everyone you've ever known has hurt and left you is hard, and Marvin hates every second of it.





	Labyrinth

Marvin hums lazily, nuzzling his cheek deeper into his pillow. He's warm and comfortable, barely awake and not wanting to get up anytime soon anyway. He can feel the weight of Jackie's arm around his waist and the tickling of his breaths on his neck. He hums again, pushing his back more up against Jackie's chest, and Jackie kisses his neck in response. There's a small chuckle, fingers trailing up and down his side, and he's so awfully comfortable he never wants this to end.

"G'morning," Jackie mumbles, kissing Marvin's neck again, and Marvin sighs happily.

He's about to say it back, but his mouth runs dry and his tongue is refusing to cooperate, and not in the nervous way. He literally can't speak, and his chest heaves in panic. He jolts forward, tearing Jackie's arms from around himself, but when he turns and his eyes snap open he freezes. He doesn't see Jackie or a dimly lit, familiar bedroom. Instead he's sitting on the very edge of the couch he's been sleeping on for the past month or so, staring wide-eyed into the pitch black of the living room.

He shivers violently as he gasps for breaths. It was a dream. Only a dream. Well, more like nightmare, really. He's been having these stupid dreams...nightmares... _whatevers_ every other night for a while now. They're always about mundane, normal things, but in every one him and Jackie are kissing or sharing a bed or flirting or just generally doing things that couples do. They're getting seriously annoying.

Marvin doesn't want any of these stupid feelings, thank you very much. He's already scared of the many horrible outcomes of letting Jackie this close to himself (as a friend, mind you) could have, he doesn't need a damn crush to top it all off.

He slides off the couch and finds his slippers. He needs to get up and move around, he needs to get some fresh air to clear his head. He doesn't bother pulling a hoodie over his pyjamas, nor with putting shoes on despite it being mid-December and the temperature outside being approximately "cold as balls".

He stumbles out of the apartment and makes his way to the roof without using his magic to teleport. He's too distracted for that right now, he'd probably end up in a wall or some shit if he tried. So he takes the elevator like some boring, normal person.

The cold outside cuts right to his bones, but he doesn't care. He barely notices, really. He walks to the very edge of the roof and leans his elbows on the railing, ignoring how painful the cold metal is against his skin through his shirt. He stares out over the night-time city but without actually seeing.

His thoughts are too loud and he wants them gone, he wants them all gone, his feelings as well. Right now he'd rather have no feelings at all than the ones settling so painfully in his chest. He has growing romantic feelings for his best friend, that much is clear even if it's a huge cliché. Villain is saved and reformed by a hero, they become best friends and then said villain falls in love with the hero. That sounds stupid, even in his thoughts. Complicated, too, and his life is already messy enough without stupid feelings fucking everything up even further.

He doesn't even want to think about his chances, because they're probably nonexistent. Not even because he's analysing Jackie's behaviour so much, he isn’t, but because in his life nothing ever has gone his way, at least before he's met Jackie. So why would he get lucky now?

It's hopeless. _He's_ hopeless. For now, at least. He doesn't know what to do about his feelings and about the annoying dreams they spark, he doesn't know how to make the urge to kiss Jackie disappear every time they cuddle up together or hug. He's lost, and in the middle of the night while he’s freezing to death is definitely not the time that will help him with answers.

The fresh, cold air feels nice in his lungs, but his body is protesting heavily against the temperature. Every inch of his skin is covered in goosebumps and he has to resist the urge to step back from the cold guardrail and wrap his arms around himself. He can feel himself starting to tremble. He curses himself for that too. He's supposed to be used to being cold by now, he's spent so many nights in not-quite-suitable places and without thick clothing. He's supposed to handle this way better, but he doesn't. He's just too weak, isn't he?

He doesn't flinch, he's too tired and melancholic, when he hears a voice coming from behind him.

"Marvin!"

Marvin doesn't even look up, he doesn't move at all in fact, as Jackie rushes to his side. He only spares him a glance and then goes back to staring out at the city. He's happy to see Jackie, sure, but what does it matter anyway?

"You scared me," Jackie breathes, and Marvin only realises now that he seems anxious. "I got up for a glass of water and you were just...gone," he takes a deep breath, then runs a hand through his hair, shakes his head and laughs. "Sorry. I...I worry too easily."

"'S fine," Marvin mutters. "Sorry I scared you."

Jackie just shrugs, more interested in the fact that Marvin is hanging out on the roof in the middle of the night. "Why are you out here anyway? Without proper clothes as well," his face falls as it clicks for him and he finally notices that Marvin is shaking. He tentatively wraps an arm around his shoulders, and when he doesn't move away he properly hugs him from behind without puliing him away from the railing, laying his head down on his shoulder. Marvin refuses to admit to himself how nice it feels, because he could have sworn that he's awake yet this feels more like one of his stupid dreams again.

"I just...needed to clear my head," Marvin sighs, forcing himself not to lean into Jackie too much.

"You could totally do that without freezing to death," his voice holds no resentment and he chuckles at the end, hoping that Marvin will too. He doesn't. "I'm sorry, you know I worry too easily," he closes his eyes and presses his cheek into Marvin's cold neck. Maybe it's just the cold (no, it isn't), but it feels so good to have him this close. "I always think about the worst and...I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt," his voice chokes up and he stops talking. He hasn't been having the most wonderful night either, but Marvin doesn't have to know that.

Marvin sighs as he feels Jackie's arms tighten around his stomach. Maybe he isn't the only one who really needs the comfort tonight. He finally pries a hand off the railing and holds onto one of Jackie's arms instead.

"I'm alright."

That's all Jackie really seems to need, because he nods against Marvin's shoulder and breathes deeply. But Marvin is still shivering against him, and Jackie is starting to too, and finally he remembers that they're standing outside in their pyjamas in the middle of a winter night.

"Can we go back inside now?" Jackie asks quietly, and Marvin doesn't say anything, but he lets go of the railing with his other hand too. From that alone Jackie understands his answer, and he unwinds his arms from around him to allow him to move properly. "Come on."

The short walk back to Jackie's apartment (their apartment, as Jackie calls it) is silent. Jackie would love to talk, whether about nothings or about what's got either of them so upset, but Marvin seems to retreat into his shell as soon as they start to walk, and Jackie decides to leave him to his thoughts for now.

Jackie kicks his shoes off as soon as he can (because he was actually smart enough to put shoes on), and Marvin hesitates for a moment before doing the same to his slippers. Once he does, Jackie pulls him into a hug gently, burying his face into his shoulder. They're both still so cold.

"Hey," Jackie whispers, so quiet that Marvin can barely hear him. He rests a hand between Marvin's shoulder blades and rubs little circles against his shirt with his thumb, and he takes a deep breath before continuing. "I'll always be here for you. Please remember that. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Marvin laughs a small, breathy laugh, and he isn't even entirely sure why. "Where did that come from?"

"Nowhere, I..." Jackie swallows and it's so clear that he's lying. "I just wanted to make sure you knew that."

"Oh," he bites his lip, and suddenly there's some stupid lump in his throat that he definitely did not ask for. He wants to say it back, he wants to tell Jackie how much he cares about him and that he will be here forever too, as long as he wants him to, but...he's scared. He's too damn scared. He's scared of it not being true, he's scared to believe Jackie, he's scared of his own stupid feelings, he's just _scared_.

And Jackie understands that. "It's okay," he squeezes Marvin closer to his chest. "You don't have to say anything."

So Marvin doesn't.


End file.
